This might seem silly to state, but did you know you can actually buy most Easter candy year round? If you are a Cadbury egg fan, you’re probably saying in your head, “no!  No, you cannot!” Personally, I am a Reese’s pieces eggs fan and I cannot buy those year round. In fact, sometimes they are hard to find at Easter time. Last year, I stocked up and bought three packages and guess what? I gave the last two eggs from my Easter stash to my grandson…at Christmas time. Yup, they lasted me that long. Five years ago, this would not have been the case. I vividly remember eating a handful, then going back and eating another handful and maybe even another. And you know what? I can still recall that sloshy feeling in my head from eating so much sugar. Did I REALLY want to eat THAT much?  Probably not. So why, why did I do it?

Before we jump in, I want to introduce myself. I’m Marla, a women’s health coach. I help women with weight loss coaching in St. George and all over.

The answer to that question is multi-dimensional. As a women’s health coach, this is one of the areas I help clients get clarity on. When you know why you do this, why you overfeed on something, you become powerful in your pursuit of weight loss and/or weight maintenance. Today let’s dive into one reason you may find yourself engaging in this kind of behavior: RESTRICTION.

Binging is a direct side effect of restriction. Eating candy (or cookies or chips or pizza–insert a food you indulge in) beyond what you are truly wanting to eat OR that is driving you AWAY from your goals is binging.  You may wonder how you could be “restricting” if you actually just ate half a large bag of Easter candy. Restriction is a little sneaky. You may not actually be engaging in restrictive behavior as much as you may have a restrictive mindset. So let’s go back to the very first thing I said in this newsletter–did you know you can actually buy most Easter candy year round? If you give yourself permission to have candy around the house, to enjoy it in moderation WHENEVER YOU WANT, you will actually eat less of it, not more. I promise.

This may sound too easy, but it works. I can open my cabinet in my pantry anytime I want and get some of those yummy Reese’s pieces eggs. Guess what? Switching my mindset to an abundance mindset instead of a restrictive mindset around food helps me step into a woman of power. It gives me permission to actually choose, to decide if I really want that candy because there isn’t that voice in my head (though it may be subconscious) telling me I’ve got to eat it before it’s gone! Sometimes I want a couple eggs and sometimes I truly do not. When you choose your food with intention, you create alignment between your goals and your behavior (and remember that eating is a behavior). 

If this resonated with you, I’d love to chat more about women’s health coaching. You can learn more and contact me HERE.